OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 10, October 2012

Treatments May Alleviate and Reverse Central Nervous System Radiation Necrosis: Although radiation therapy is effective against many tumors of the brain and spine, it also damages normal tissue INBRIEF: Bevacizumab With High-Dose Chemotherapy Shows Promise for Cisplatin-Refractory Germ Cell Tumors Compass: Early-Stage Testicular Cancer-Postsurgical treatment varies according to tumor stage and histology HOUSE CALL: Online Cancer Support Networks-Patients and caregivers find support onlinehttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/oncolog/1227/thumbnail.jp

OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 02, February 2013

Chronic Viral Hepatitis in Cancer Patients Requires Personalized Management: Chronic viral hepatitis is life-threatening for many patients but curable or manageable for others. But in patients who have both viral hepatitis and cancer, cancer treatment may exacerbate the viral infection and lead to other complications, such as liver failure or even death Managing Sleep Disorders in Cancer Patients: Quality sleep is essential to healing, to proper immune function, and even to mental health. Conversely, lack of sleep has been associated with depression, anxiety, and decreased cognitive function. In cancer patients, poor sleep reduces quality of life; nevertheless, most cancer patients do not mention sleep problems unless explicitly asked. INBRIEF: Ex Vivo Umbilical Cord Blood Expansion Hastens Stem cell Engraftment in Transplant Recipients/Ibrutinib Shows Promise for Mantle Cell Lymphoma Treatment HOUSE CALL: Finding Information About Alternative Medicine: How to choose credible sources and avoid pitfallshttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/oncolog/1230/thumbnail.jp

OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 01, January 2014

Addressing Fertility Issues in Cancer Patients: For some newly diagnosed cancer patients, whether they will be able to have children after treatment is the furthest question from their minds-until the risks of therapy bring it front-and-center INBRIEF: Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy May Reduce Side Effects of Oropharyngeal Carcinoma Treatment Medical Advances Improve Bile Duct Cancer Treatment: Cholangiocarcinoma, the most common bile duct cancer, is a clinically silent disease in its early stages; patients usually present with advanced disease, which carries a poor prognosis HOUSE CALL: Weight Loss Tips for Breast Cancer Survivors-Losing excess weight has multiple benefitshttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/oncolog/1240/thumbnail.jp

Sacramental Magic and Animate Statues in Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, and John Milton

"Sacramental Magic" explores the animate statue in early modem romance as an emblem of the potential spiritually transformative power of objects. The tendency of New Historicism to "empty out" theology from Catholicism overlooks the continued power of sacred objects in Reformation literature. My dissertation joins the recent turn to religion in early modern studies--Catholic doctrine and religious experience explain the startling presence of benevolent animate statues in Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton; one would expect these statues to be empty idols, but instead they animate, revealing a real presence of the divine. I first investigate Spenser's Egyptian lexicon for the Catholic veneration of sacred images in the Temple of Isis in the Faerie Queene. Embedding Britomart's dream vision of an English empire in Egyptian mythology creates a translatio imperii from Egypt to Rome to England, transferring not only political but also religious power. The Isis statue's transformation of Britomart bears striking textual and visual correlations to John Dee's hermetic Monas Hieroglyphica. For Shakespeare, ermetic magic emblematizes the sacrament of penance. Shakespeare's claim "to make men glorious" suggests that Pericles transforms its audience by effecting, not merely signifying, grace. The play emblematizes the restorative aspects of reconciliation, the antidote to the seven deadly sins, with alchemical and medical imagery, culminating in Cerimon's reanimation of Thaisa through an Egyptian magic based on the hermetic ritual to ensoul statues. The Winter's Tale continues Shakespeare's meditation upon the emotional metamorphoses produced by reconciliation. I argue that Shakespeare creates an affective communion among the audience members and the characters, an effect similar to the workings of the Holy Spirit in a Mass, emblematized by the hermetic animation of Hermione. The final chapter examines the Catholic and hermetic parallels in Milton's "Il Penseroso" and Comus. In both works, Milton traces a shared system of correspondences underlying Catholicism and hermeticism in order to explore the relationship between objects and the immaterial, through angelology, Ficinian music theory, the contemplative lives of nuns, the Catholic sacrament of Extreme Unction, and ritual exorcism

OncoLog, Volume 61, Number 09, September 2016

Transport Oncophysics Could Guide Pancreatic Cancer Treatment: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas respond poorly to standard treatments. Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are applying the principles of physics to characterize the tumors, and these analyses could lead to individualized therapy. Nivolumab Shows Potential in Treating Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Anal Canal: Currently, there are no standard therapy options for patients with treatment-refractory metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCCA), but early results of a multi-institutional clinical trial (No. NCI9673) led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center show that the immunotherapy drug nivolumab may be effective against the disease. Lymphedema Screening Initiative for Breast Cancer Survivors Offers Early Diagnosis, Treatment: Lymphedema can be a debilitating side effect of breast cancer treatment. To diagnose and treat the condition early, when it may be reversible, a program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center identifies and screens patients at high risk for lymphedema. HOUSE CALL: Health and Fitness Apps- Software tools can help you achieve wellness. USEFULRESOURCES: HPV-Associated Cancers Coursehttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/oncolog/1270/thumbnail.jp